TL;DR: The Southeast Utah Health Department confirmed 10 reports of foodborne illness in the Price area after an initial complaint on May 13, and investigators have not identified the contamination source.
10 cases confirmed in Price area
The Southeast Utah Health Department (SEUHD) is actively investigating a localized outbreak of foodborne illness in the Price area, according to ETV News. The department had confirmed 10 official reports linked to the outbreak at the time of that report. The exact source of the contamination remains unknown, and the investigation is ongoing.
The cases are centered in Carbon County, according to KUTV. The health department described the event as a potential foodborne illness outbreak under investigation. Officials said they needed additional reports to investigate further and to determine whether cases are connected.
According to FOX 13 Now, investigators had confirmed 10 cases of the illnesses since the inquiry began. The department said that total is why officials want to find out if these cases are connected. The department has not released a pathogen identification in the reports available by May 16.
Investigation began May 13 after group complaint
On May 13, SEUHD received a report from an individual experiencing symptoms including an upset stomach and diarrhea, according to ETV News. That individual noted that multiple other members of their party were suffering from the same symptoms.
Orion Rogers, the environmental health director for the Southeast Utah Health Department, says the investigation started on Thursday after the department received a complaint from a group that reported foodborne illness-like symptoms, according to FOX 13 Now. That Thursday start aligns with the May 13 initial report described by ETV News.
Health officials are treating the reports as a localized outbreak in the Price area, according to ETV News. The department is asking the public to report any similar symptoms, including mild symptoms, to help investigators pinpoint the source and prevent further illness.
Restaurant cooperated and discarded food
The health department is not releasing the name of the restaurant while the investigation plays out, according to FOX 13 Now. The department said the restaurant is being cooperative with the investigation.
According to FOX 13 Now, the restaurant threw out all the food it had. Rogers confirmed that account to the station, which reported that the establishment discarded its existing stock as investigators began their work.
No closure order, recall, or enforcement action was described in the reports available by May 16. The department characterized the restaurant as cooperative, and officials said the decision to withhold the name was tied to the active status of the investigation.
Who should report and what symptoms to watch
Public health officials advise residents to monitor themselves and their families for common signs of foodborne illness, according to ETV News. The listed signs include upset stomach or abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, and fever.
According to FOX 13 Now, symptoms of foodborne illness can include stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever. KUTV listed the same five categories: stomach cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever.
Officials are asking anyone who has symptoms of food poisoning and has eaten outside of the home recently to report the illness so they can investigate, according to FOX 13 Now. KUTV reported the same request, stating that the department asked those with symptoms who have eaten outside of their homes recently to report their illnesses.
ETV News reported a broader request, stating that the health department is asking anyone who has recently experienced these symptoms, even mild symptoms, to file an official report. The purpose is to help investigators identify the origin and halt further spread.
How to file a report in Utah
Reports can be submitted securely online through the Utah Department of Health and Human Services portal, according to ETV News. The submission address published by the department is https://pubredcap.health.utah.gov/surveys/?s=AMR9NWM7YP8FFDF3.
According to FOX 13 Now, anyone with symptoms is asked to go to seuhealth.gov/report-a-problem to report the illness. That address provides a second department channel for Carbon County residents.
The emphasis on individual reports reflects how outbreak inquiries depend on sick people and clinicians coming forward. According to LegalClarity, which published an explainer on May 16, 2026, how quickly a person acts after suspected food poisoning directly affects how fast investigators can identify the source and stop it from spreading.
What counts as a foodborne outbreak
When two or more people get the same illness from the same contaminated food or drink, the event is called a foodborne disease outbreak, according to the CDC. The CDC states that public health officials investigate outbreaks to control them so more people do not get sick and to learn how to prevent similar outbreaks.
According to LegalClarity, federal agencies detect outbreaks through DNA-based laboratory networks, investigate them by tracing contaminated food through supply chains, and respond with tools ranging from public warnings to mandatory recalls and criminal prosecution. The May 16 explainer states that the system depends heavily on individual reports from sick people and their doctors.
Foodborne illness outbreaks sicken an estimated 9.9 million Americans each year from known pathogens alone, leading to roughly 53,000 hospitalizations and more than 900 deaths, according to LegalClarity, citing CDC burden estimates. Those national figures provide context for why local departments pursue even small clusters quickly.
How laboratories connect separate cases
Detection starts in clinical laboratories, according to LegalClarity. When a doctor orders a stool or blood test and a pathogen such as Salmonella or E. coli turns up, the laboratory performs whole genome sequencing to map the bacterium's complete DNA profile.
Since 2019, this technique has been the standard method used by PulseNet, a CDC-coordinated national network of public health and food regulatory laboratories, according to LegalClarity. The explainer describes the sequence as a biological barcode: bacteria with an identical genetic sequence in different patients almost certainly point to the same contaminated product.
PulseNet laboratories upload sequencing data to shared databases, and CDC scientists monitor those uploads for clusters, according to LegalClarity. A second LegalClarity explainer published May 13 describes PulseNet as a CDC-managed network of 82 federal, state, and local laboratories spanning all 50 states that uses standardized methods to characterize bacterial DNA and compare results nationally.
The May 13 explainer states that when the system spots more people sick with a genetically similar strain than historical baselines would predict for a given period, it flags a cluster for further investigation. The FDA's Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network works alongside CDC to evaluate those signals, reviewing emerging clusters alongside inspection data, past sampling results, and known pathogen-food pairings.
Why interviews cover many meals and days
Every investigation begins with clinical specimens, according to LegalClarity. The stool or blood samples that confirmed a pathogen become foundational evidence, and health department staff then interview each patient to build a detailed food history covering everything consumed during the relevant incubation window.
Investigators also pull objective purchase data from grocery store loyalty programs and credit card records, according to LegalClarity. Those records fill gaps in memory about exact brands, stores, and purchase dates.
Information feeds into a line list, described by LegalClarity as a secure database tracking each patient's demographics, symptom onset date, foods eaten, and lab results. Comparing dozens of entries side by side can reveal a common food item.
Incubation periods vary widely by pathogen, which is why investigators ask about foods eaten over a range of days rather than just the last meal, according to LegalClarity. The May 16 explainer states that Salmonella symptoms typically appear 6 to 48 hours after exposure, with a window that can stretch to 10 days, while E. coli O157 takes roughly 3 to 4 days and Campylobacter falls in a 2-to-5-day range.
Listeria is the outlier, according to LegalClarity, with invasive listeriosis able to take one to four weeks to produce symptoms. That longer interval makes traceback especially difficult for that pathogen.
Which foods investigators examine first
Not every pathogen behaves the same way, and knowledge of common culprits helps investigators narrow the search, according to LegalClarity. The CDC's Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration tracks which foods are most frequently linked to outbreaks caused by three priority bacteria.
For Salmonella, more than 75 percent of outbreak-linked illnesses trace to seven food categories: chicken, fruits, seeded vegetables like tomatoes, pork, tree nuts, beef, and turkey, according to LegalClarity. For E. coli O157, over 85 percent of illnesses connect to leafy greens and beef, while Listeria clusters around dairy products, leafy greens, and fruits.
Bacteria receive most attention in investigations, but norovirus causes more foodborne outbreaks than any single bacterium, according to LegalClarity. In analyzed outbreaks with a known contributing factor, infected food workers handling ready-to-eat items accounted for the majority of norovirus contamination events.
No pathogen or food category has been named as the cause in Price. The available reports describe upset stomach and diarrhea in the initial party, with the broader symptom list still under review as officials seek more reports.
What happens next in Carbon County
SEUHD remains in the information-gathering phase. The department has 10 official reports, an unidentified contamination source, and an open request for additional reports from people who ate outside the home and then developed cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, or fever.
Residents can use the state REDCap survey link published by ETV News or the seuhealth.gov/report-a-problem channel reported by FOX 13 Now. Officials said saving details about meals, locations, and onset timing will strengthen each submission, an approach consistent with the interview and purchase-record methods described by LegalClarity.
The department has not announced laboratory results, a confirmed food vehicle, hospitalizations, or additional case counts beyond 10 in the material available by May 16. Further findings will depend on whether more residents report, whether clinical testing identifies a pathogen, and whether interviews and sequencing connect the illnesses to a single source.